JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (August 11, 2003) - After a week of practice, the East Tennessee State football team held their first scrimmage of the 2003 season Monday night from Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tenn.
The defense showed great speed and athleticism during the two-and-a-half hour scrimmage, but the offense and special teams had bright spots as well.
ETSU defensive coordinator Billy Taylor was encouraged after the scrimmage with the progress of his defense. "We really flew around the ball today," said Taylor. "I am very pleased with how we pursued and chased the football."
"We showed a lot of positives tonight, but there is still a lot of work to be done," said ETSU head coach Paul Hamilton. "Some of the plusses were that our offense moved the ball and we showed a lot of speed on defense. (Redshirt freshman quarterback) Carl Meadows (Cummings, Ga.) was a real positive as he made some good throws tonight. Our offense did some good things, but we were not consistent enough."
Junior place-kicker Jonathan Godfrey (Johnson City, Tenn.) had an impressive scrimmage, hitting on 3-of-4 field goal attempts, possibly solving a problem that hampered the Bucs throughout the 2002 season. His only miss was from 50 yards out.
"Jonathan Godfrey did a very good job tonight," said Hamilton.
The Bucs open the season on Thursday, Aug. 28 at Eastern Michigan. Kickoff from Ypsilanti, Mich. is set for 7 p.m.